The Blog

After a number of years of honing our message I feel that we now have a clear vision of what it is to see a young person’s balloon of self-belief inflated.  These are our Four Pillars: 1.    The first pillar is to Belong – this is to offer young people a place where they are safe … Read more

Spot the form… This was one of my favourite sayings when I was a housemaster and I remember pupils would often mimic me because they’d heard it so many times. Before I entered the world of teaching, a friend told me what his housemaster had always shared when he was at school and it was … Read more

I think this is a really important principle that we should apply when someone we know, whether our own child or a pupil we’re pastorally supporting, is battling with a deflated balloon.  We can help them to inflate and grow their confidence by offering small steps, where each step results in a little success. This … Read more

As we move up and out of this pandemic we continue to be at the mercy of what is happening in the wider world which is so often out of our control.  What we have lived through for the last year has been challenging for many and my advice, as always, is to fix our … Read more

I was out walking yesterday afternoon with my two younger children and we found ourselves walking down a particularly muddy path shrouded by trees.  There were many low lying branches which I constantly seemed to be walking in to and I then managed to fall in to an enormous pile of mud!  My 10 year … Read more

My new passion is that we use this time of challenge in as positive a way as we can. There is no doubt that it is awkward, different, strange and difficult for many but I do believe that from this malaise some positive should come. To that end I wonder whether training our children in … Read more

During lockdown and the challenges it brings, I think a message on our ‘inner critic vs inner coach’ is so important. One thing I’ve found during this pandemic is that there is no where to run and hide from ‘myself.’ Put simply, it’s me and only me day after day after day.  With this reality, … Read more

It seems rather ironic to be talking about eyes when I can’t really see but I am so struck by the importance of eye contact.  It can be so helpful for validation within a conversation and also in offering ‘balloon inflation’.  Eyes can be kind, understanding, loving and empathetic.  So much can be gained by … Read more

“There is no greater power and support you can give someone than to look them in the eye, and with conviction say, ‘I believe in you.’”       Ken Poirot Over the course of the Christmas holidays I have been away and had some really interesting chats.  One was with a female professional footballer who … Read more

One of the things that I’m learning is the importance of the word authenticity in this world. It’s very easy, when things are tough, to try and hide and run away from what is really true. We much prefer to sit in a place of being brilliant and hide the fact that we may be … Read more